Live Mail 2012 - messages from Yahoo! are blank

BigJohnD · 08 Nov 2013

I run Windows Live Mail 2012 (Build 16.4.3508.0205) on Win7 64bit.

I have several POP3 email accounts form various servers, all correctly configured and working.

However if I receive an email from a Yahoo! account created via Yahoo!'s webmail rather than an offline POP3 client, it appears blank in Live Mail 2012.

If I "select all" in the Yahoo! message and copy and paste everything into Word, the message appears - correctly, with all formatting. It's obviously an incompatibility between LM 2012 and Yahoo! but I'm at a loss now how to resolve it.

I have tinkered with encodings and changed/updated vid card drivers, but the problem persists.

Any ideas? Are there any updates? Is Live Mail 2013 or 2014 due soon?

Cheers, John.

A Guy · 10 Nov 2013

Welcome to Seven Forums BigJohnD. I would suspect that perhaps the emails from Yahoo are being sent in HTML, and the font color is the issue. I don't use Live Mail, but I would look for a setting to read as plain text or such. If the issue is only from one Yahoo user account, chances are they have their settings set wrong. If all Yahoo emails appear that way, then Live Mail is having difficulties with their HTML formatted emails. From searching, it looks like you are looking at the View tab for plain text settings. A Guy

BigJohnD · 10 Nov 2013

Thanks JaG.

I have tried disabling the HTML and using plain text, but this is a global setting and affects every message. However, the messages from Yahoo! do become readable. However, I'm not happy digging through the menus to switch to basic text, read a message from Yahoo! and then switch back.

It's not actually an issue of white text on a white back ground - the text doesn't show when "selecting all" as an inverse. No text is still the the issue. When "Selecting all", it looks like there is no text at all to the message. I can post screen shots if you like, though I'd remove names and email addresses which would probably confuse the issue further.

I guess it's some kind of HTML interpretation issue, affecting only messages from Yahoo! - irrespective of the sender.

A Guy · 10 Nov 2013

It is odd that you can't highlight the text. Since plain text does work, it's definitely formatting. See if this thread (regarding emails from Mac users) applies to your situation as well

Windows LIve mail is not showing messages from email sent from MAC - Microsoft Community

Windows Live Mail 2011 not displaying emails correctly - Microsoft Community

WLM uses IE to display HTML markup. This could correspond with a change to IE? A font issue would better explain why the text does not highlight as well. A Guy

BigJohnD · 10 Nov 2013

Thanks.

I don't use IE at all, so I'll load it up and check for updates. Ta.

A Guy · 10 Nov 2013

Even if IE is up to date, it may be your system fonts. The Helvetica fonts are considered quite old, and likely wouldn't be missed. WLM, Windows Update, and other Windows functions us IE, even if you don't

A Guy

BigJohnD · 11 Nov 2013

I've read the pages you linked too, and surprise, surprise, I have old T1 fonts installed which include Helvetica and the other original PS printer fonts - Avant Garde, Bookman, GillSans, &c.. (I update documents which were originally created some 20 years ago on the days of Windows 3.0 and maintain the original style palettes.)

I'll remove them when I've found where I've put the originals. Sadly there's no ATM these days to temporarily de-activate a font.

Let's hope it works.

A Guy · 11 Nov 2013

Let us know how it goes. A Guy

BigJohnD · 12 Nov 2013

I spent some time removing Helvetica as I kept getting "Font in use" but eventually I deleted it. After rebooting there was sadly no change. (I won't re-install the fonts until I need them, so as to rule them out.)

I looked through a long list of messages from Yahoo! and all those before late January 2013 are fine. After that, they're blank. So what happened at the end of Jan? Did Yahoo! change their webmail app?

Never give up!

Cheers, John.

[Edit]
Well, something happened at Yahoo! on 16th Jan 2013.

Update on the Systems Upgrade ( 11:30 pm PST 16th Jan 2013)
We have completed delivery of millions of messages that were queued up today !
System Upgrade is now complete. We regret the delayed delivery of your messages during this upgrade and thank you once again for the patience. We look forward to offering a faster Yahoo! Groups experience !
***************
Update on the Systems Upgrade ( 3:30 pm PST 16th Jan 2013)
Following the upgrades we’ve been experiencing delays in queued emails getting delivered. Our engineers have been working to get the issue resolved and we expect the mail queues to be cleared in the next 4 to 6 hours. Thank you, for your patience !
***************
Update on the Systems Upgrade ( 7 am PST 16th Jan 2013)
We’ve successfully upgraded most of the systems, we do have a few pending tasks that would be completed over the next few hours. Groups website is working as usual. The queued up emails are being sent out.

At least the dates are consistent with my issue, and I was using Live Mail at the time.

I need to find out if these "system updates" changed the webmail app.

BigJohnD · 12 Nov 2013

A Guy said:

WLM uses IE to display HTML markup. This could correspond with a change to IE? A font issue would better explain why the text does not highlight as well. A Guy

Well, it looks like it's solved.

I found the time tonight to install/upgrade to IE11 and problem? What problem?

All the messages from Yahoo! are exactly as they should be.

Phew!

Thanks for your support.

Diolch yn fawr, John.